


A Little Comfort Never Hurt

by sassycashley



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Hurt Castiel, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Protective Dean Winchester
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-18
Updated: 2018-01-18
Packaged: 2019-03-06 09:39:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,768
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13408512
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sassycashley/pseuds/sassycashley
Summary: When Castiel gets hurt in the line of duty Dean takes it upon himself to comfort and care for his "friend".





	A Little Comfort Never Hurt

There’s a lot Dean has to get used to when Castiel becomes human; the way he doesn’t speak in the morning until he’s had coffee, the smell of his shampoo when he steps out of the shower, his rough laugh late at night when they’re watching The Office. Most of these changes send Dean’s heart soaring every time he discovers a new one. Castiel’s vulnerability to getting hurt, however, is a totally different monster. He’s like a toddler - recklessly pushing the limit in a world with sharp edges and weapons aimed to kill. Thankfully most of his injuries are minor - a sprained ankle here, a cut from shaving there, and so on. That is until their most recent hunt taking down a nest of vampires.

Dean is pinned down by one of the vamps when Castiel comes out of nowhere to push him off, getting kicked in the process. His head makes contact with a wall and his eyes roll back into his head, causing Dean’s blood to run cold. Sam comes up behind the vampire and takes his head off with a machete and they both run to Cas.

Cupping Castiel’s face in his hands, his voice cracks, “Cas? Cas wake up. Please.”

Dean breathes a heavy sigh when Castiel’s eyelashes flicker open and he mutters, “Ouch.”

“I know, buddy. You hit your head pretty hard but you’re going to be okay,” the smile he was sporting disappears when Castiel closes his eyes again, “No, Cas, you have to stay awake.”

“C’mon, let’s get him to the car,” Sam reaches down to help Cas up and the three of them make their way to the car.

Carefully laying Castiel in the backseat, Dean hands Sam the keys, “Hospital.” Sam nods and Dean joins Castiel, sitting so that Castiel’s head is on his lap to make sure he stays awake.

When Cas starts to fall asleep again, Dean rakes his fingers through his hair, “Hey, you have to keep your eyes open,” Castiel’s eyes lock with his own. Dean swallows but keeps the eye contact, “Can you answer some questions for me?”

“Okay,” Castiel answers.

“Who is the president of the United States?”

“An asshole.”

Dean laughs and runs his fingers through Castiel’s hair, “Yeah, I guess that answer will do,” he watches Cas’s eyes for any signs of pain as they pass under streetlights, “What is your name?”

Castiel chuckles, “Castiel but you like to call me Cas.”

“Yeah, I do,” he smiles and risks a look at Sam, realizing how cheesy he’s being before he decides he doesn’t care and looks back at Cas. “I’m sorry you got hurt.”

His eyes are soft, “It’s not your fault, Dean. I’m human now, I’m going to get hurt.”

“Yeah, well, don’t do that again. I’m actually thinking of just wrapping you in bubble wrap next time,” Dean sees Sam smile and shake his head in the rearview mirror and he glares back.

Seeing the hospital in the distance, he says, “I think you’re okay but I’m going to have a doctor check you out just in case.”

Castiel finds Dean’s free hand at his side and intertwines their fingers, “Thank you, Dean,” he squeezes his hand and Dean’s breath hitches, his heart racing.

…

The coffee in the ER waiting room is bitter but Dean gets up to get more anyway; anything to keep his hands distracted. Sam follows him to the coffee maker and places his hand on Dean’s shoulder as he pours another cup.

“He’s okay, Dean,” Sam assures him, letting his hand drop.

“Is he?” Dean looks at Sam, “Aren’t personality changes a sign of a concussion?”

“What personality changes? He seems like the same old Cas to me.”

Dean looks down at the floor, rolling his words around on his tongue before speaking, “He held my hand in the car.” When he looks back up, he finds Sam smirking at him.

“I’m pretty sure that’s part of his personality, Dean. Like one-hundred percent sure,” Sam answers. He walks back over to Castiel, leaving Dean to mull over what he said.

…

The doctor asks a series of questions and thankfully Sam takes the responsibility of lying about how Cas hit his head. Dean watches Castiel go through the physical exam, biting his lip when Cas flinches at the light the doctor shines in his eyes.

“Well, Castiel, you have a mild concussion - nothing to worry about,” Castiel nods in response and the doctor turns to Sam and Dean, “Make sure he gets plenty of rest and some ibuprofen should be enough to cure his headache. Don’t let him drive for twenty-four hours or do anything too strenuous. If his personality seems to change incredibly fast, he starts to fall down easily, or he starts to slur his speech bring him back to the hospital. And obviously if he has a seizure you should call 911.”

“A seizure?” Dean asks, his eyes on Cas.

“I highly doubt his symptoms will get worse, I think he just needs some sleep.”

“Thank you, doctor,” Sam responds as he stands up and shakes the doctor’s hand.

…

Back at the bunker, Castiel sits cross legged on the chair next to his bed as he watches Dean change his sheets out for clean ones.

“Really, Dean, this is unnecessary,” he argues, but he’s smiling at how meticulous Dean is about making the bed.

“The doctor said you need lots of rest and that sleep is going to happen on clean sheets,” Dean replies, fluffing up a pillow. Castiel gets up from the chair to stand in front of Dean, placing his hand on the side of Dean’s face.

“Thank you for taking care of me,” his thumb traces Dean’s cheek.

Lost as he is in the blue eyes before him, Dean’s surprised he manages a “you’re welcome,” his voice soft as he leans in and kisses the top of Castiel’s head.

When he slips quietly away into the hallway, he reaches up to touch his cheek, missing the contact. As he drops his hand he leans up against the door and closes his eyes, wishing he’d had the courage to stay. Sam’s footsteps echo into the hall and he stands up straight.

“Breakfast?” Sam asks, “We need to go shopping but we do have cereal and bacon.”

“You know just how to make my day, Sammy,” he says as he follows Sam to the kitchen. The two of them eat cereal with sides of bacon in quiet, Sam reading an article on his phone. After taking the last bite of cereal, Sam pushes his bowl away and sets down his phone. He looks at Dean, who is chewing a mouthful of bacon, “So about Cas,” he starts, Deans eyes widening as his chewing slows, “I think you should tell him how you feel.”

Dean swallows, “What are you talking about?” He looks down at his cereal, spinning his spoon in the milk.

“I’m just saying, if there’s something you want to tell him, maybe you should do that now that he’s human and he can get hurt,” Dean looks at his brother skeptically, “I know you’re afraid of him leaving. Maybe you should just ask him to stay.”

…

Dean has already cleaned the entire bunker by the time Castiel walks into the living room, his hair sticking up in funny places as he rubs his eyes.

“Good morning, sunshine,” Dean smiles, “I was just about to check on you. Would you like something to eat? Sam’s at the grocery store because we’re out of almost everything but we do have ingredients to make a mean pb&j.”

“That sounds great,” Castiel yawns. Dean stands up and walks toward the kitchen, “Dean, wait, I can make it myself. You don’t have to do everything.”

“Just sit down on the couch and choose something to watch, Cas,” he leaves before Castiel can argue. Promising himself to make Sam and Dean a nice dinner when he doesn’t feel like the mere thought of moving hurts, Castiel does as he’s told.

Balancing two plates and two glasses of water in his arms, Dean walks into the living room to see Castiel has settled on Arrested Development. His laughter is low as luminescent light reflects off his face from the television. Dean hands Cas his sandwich and takes a seat on the other side of the couch, a cushion between them. They sit in silence, chuckling at the characters on the screen every few minutes. After the first episode is over, Dean watches Castiel try to stay awake; shutting his eyes for a few seconds before rubbing them and opening them wide.

“Maybe you should go back to bed,” Dean insists.

“I’m tired of sleeping,” Castiel’s lips curve into a smile, “I realize that’s an oxymoron.”

“Well you can at least lay down.”

Castiel studies him, eventually moving to place his head next to Dean’s lap, his legs struggling to fit the couch.

“You can scoot down, get comfortable,” Dean motions for Cas to put his head in his lap and Castiel follows his direction, his face turned up at the hunter.

“This feels awfully familiar,” he grins up at Dean and turns over to face the television. Dean beams at him, his hand finding its way to Cas’s head, softly weaving his fingers through his hair. He falls asleep that way, with this new human breathing underneath him. When he wakes up it’s to the sound of his name and someone rubbing their hand up and down his arm.

“Do you want to go to bed?” Castiel asks.

“No,” he maneuvers himself to lay beside Cas, his arm draping over him, head resting in his hand and eyes lazy as he looks at his friend. He swallows and takes a deep breath, “Please don’t leave.”

“What?” Castiel’s eyebrows knit in confusion.

“I just needed to say it. I know eventually you might want to wander off into the world and experience a normal life. But if it means anything, I want you to stay.”

“Dean, I wasn’t planning on leaving,” Castiel reaches up and places his fingers on Dean’s bottom lip. “I’m not going anywhere,” he whispers, his hand moving to pull Dean’s face down, brushing their lips together.

…

Netflix is stuck on asking Are you still watching? when Sam walks into the living room early the next morning. Dean has his arms around Cas, spooning him as the two breathe in sync with each other. Grinning, Sam mutters fucking finally and places a blanket over them before tip toeing into the kitchen to make breakfast.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! You might figure out at some point that I have a thing for Dean and Cas sharing space on a couch ;) (which the bunker so desperately needs in canon). I'm sassycassbutts on tumblr if you want more of my shenanigans~


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